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# Guild Training Virtues

#### by Luke Silburn

The copyright of this article remains with the original author. Articles may be copied or distributed freely for personal non-profit use, provided that the author is properly credited.

It was noticed that there were three social levels granted by various social and general virtues for scholars, artisans and soldiers, namely:

Virtue cost | Scholars | Artisans | Soldiers
+1 | Educated | 'Prenticed | Veteran
+1* | F. Education | Journeyman | Veteran (again)
+3 | M. In Artibus | Master Craftsman | Mercenary Captain

*Effectively these are +2 virtues, since you need to have the preceding virtue in the hierarchy to take it.

However, it seemed that some gaps existed in this system to make it fully applicable. First, the current virtues were examined:

+1 Educated: Gives you 7xp and the ability to take academic abilities. Requires age to be at least 18 - Int.

+1 Further Education: Gives you another 7xp for academic abilities and adds two years to the minimum age. Can be permed with Educated and Magister In Artibus.

+3 Magister In Artibus: Social background virtue. Subsumes Educated and gives you a further 32xp. Requires age to be at least 25 - Int.

+1 Veteran: Gives you 7xp for abilities related to military experience.

+4 Guild Alchemist: Social background or general virtue. Subsumes Alchemist and Education (although this latter is not explicitly stated. Gives you a further 16xp. Requires age to be 22 - Int.

As can be seen, the rule of thumb seems to be that you get roughly 7xp per virtue point, although Magister seems significantly over-powered according to this metric. However it can be justified as a recognition that the bookish slant of ArM4 gives you far more academic abilities for those xps to be spent on, thus requiring a bigger allocation for the virtues detailing an academic training. The revised rule of thumb I came up with was to say that academic virtues give you 15xp per point (to represent the fact that an academic was buying four or more abilities), but that the right to buy academic abilities conferred by Educated, absorbed 8 of the xps for that virtue leaving only 7 for actual abilities. Based on this understanding I came up with the following new virtues:

+2 Baccalaurius:

This is a social background virtue. You have completed your initial studies at a university and been awarded the title Baccalaurius, entitling you to read at public lectures within your university. You have the abilities Read Latin 4, Scribe Latin 3 and Artes Liberales 3 without paying any xp for them and may use further xp to take other academic abilities if you wish. Your character is at least 22 - Int years old.

+1 'Prenticed: You have been taken on as an apprentice to a guilded trade, although you haven't completed your training as yet. You may take one Craft skill of your choice at level 3 and Guild Lore at level 1. Your character is at least 15 - Int years old.

+2 Journeyman: This is a social background virtue. You have completed an apprenticeship in a guilded trade (this virtue supercedes 'Prenticed) and have the right to practice this trade in a specific area as an employee of a master in your guild. You may take a Craft skill of your choice at level 4, Bargain at level 1 and Guild Lore at level 2. Your character is at least 22 - Int years old.

Note for SGs: It would be extremely unlikely for a character to qualify as guild journeyman unless their total die modifier (skill + speciality + relevant stat) equals 5 or better in their main craft skill and 2 or better in Bargain. Any character taking this virtue who can not muster these totals after they allocated all experience should have a strong background justification for their lack of competance.

+3 Master Craftsman: This is a social background virtue. You are a self-employed craftsman within a guilded trade (this virtue supercedes 'Prenticed and Journeyman). You must abide by guild regulations regarding quality and prices, but in return have the right to practise this trade within a specific area, employ guild colleagues and train apprentices. You are likely to be active in guild (and possibly town) politics. As long as you continue to practise your trade (devoting three or more seasons per year to your business) you may have the benefits of the +3 virtue Wealth. You may take a Craft skill of your choice at level 5, Bargain at level 2 and Guild Lore at level 2. Your character is at least 29 - Int years old.